Sri Lanka — backpackers’ paradise
Sri Lanka is a small, mango-shaped island south of India. Island’s International Airport is located in Colombo making it a usual starting point for any Sri Lankan voyages. The capital itself seems to be a one-night-stop-over for tourists and travellers . Or at least, so it seemed to me having spent 5 days in the city in a an 8-bed-dorm in which I had a brand new set of roommates every night.
I stayed there so long was because I was waiting for a friend who was due to join me from London, and thought it reasonable to ban me from seeing any exciting places or getting involved in any activities that could potentially cause fun before he joins which he could (god-forbid) miss out on. And to be frank, as it was my fifth month of travelling I very much needed that time to debrief, veg out and watch the season 4 of Game of Thrones!
Chaotic Colombo
Colombo is a very crowded city with a long coastal line — which sadly is enormously polluted and could well be the set for the final episode of Blue Planet 2… The roads are much jammed and crossing them is absolutely petrifying. A complete novice, I had to observe the locals to see how it’s done, with the conclusion that you just have to go for it, right into the traffic. Otherwise, you can stand there, by the road all day, and no vehicles will really stop until you walk right in front of them!
Tuk tuk taxis are the favoured way to move around the town. While you should definitely add it to your to-do-list, you should also know that the drivers will almost always try to rip the tourists off by charging them the double or even triple the price. So unless you do your research on government regulated rates per km (which at the time on my visit in April 2018 was 60 rupee per km — around £0.30) and are ready for the haggling battle in which you are most likely to be guilt tripped into thinking that you are trying to get the driver out of business, then Uber (well established in Colombo) might be a more reliable option which will also work out cheaper.
Tuk tuk drivers have many talents - good business acumen and customer retention is some of them. They go out of their way to do what they think is right to satisfy their clients (even if that means that they need to change their industry to another, slightly less legal for a few minutes). This I learnt when I turning down the ride from the local driver who was super quick to offer me drugs instead (If smoking wasn’t to my liking, he had sniffing options too!)
The capital is well connected with most destinations in the country by frequent buses and rail network.In my experience, the public transport is very efficient –travelling around I never really waited long for a bus. The locals are also incredibly helpful and whenever you look confused, they literally take it upon themselves to put you in the right means of transport. And the cost of the travel is super affordable - for example a five hour train journey from Colombo to Habarana (the closest station to the famous Sigiriya rock) cost us 240 rupee per head which more or less equals to £1.15. I found this website great for planning any train journey which is a simple search tool which includes all the information about the connections as well as the price — http://slr.malindaprasad.com/index.php.
Sigiriya
Sigiriya is a small village located in the centre of the island sharing its name with the popular tourist attraction — the ancient rock fortress Sigiriya. The rock itself is 200 meters high, and was chosen by King Kasyapa for his new capital (some 15 and a half centuries ago). He built his palace on the top of the rock — the ruins can still be found up there.
The best time to go up the rock is the afternoon — yes, it might be hotter than in the early morning hours (which are very hot anyway) but it would help to avoid morning crowds. This attraction is quite expensive for Sri Lankan standards — foreigners’ ticket fee is 30 USD which also includes the museum on the grounds. Sigiriya itself is a lovely little village with many restaurants with local food, freshly squeezed juices and home-stays surrounded by jungles and lakes.
The TWO crocodile lake
According to slightly vague information online (from not such reliable sources) lakes around Sigiriya are safe to swim. This was later confirmed by my host who responded: “no problem, no problem!” when asked about the crocodile presence. As the lake nearby looked like a place where crocodiles would thrive — surrounded by tall green grass and full of green weeds under the water surface, and the fact that the spoken English of my host left some room for self-interpretation, I needed far more reassurance and ended up asking every person on my way about it. My conversation went more or less like this:
Me: “hello, is it ok to swim there?” gesturing swimming and pointing at the lake.
Local boy with a big smile on his face: “yes!”
Me: “are there any crocodiles in the lake though?”
The boy: “yes!” with as wide a smile
Me: “oh… but it’s ok to swim?”
The boy with never fading smile: “yes!”
As the lad was way too affirmative and enthusiastic by this concept I wasn’t entirely sure about his comprehension of the subject, looking for further affirmation from next passer-by.
Me repeating the same question: “hello, is it ok to swim there?”
Man on the motorbike: “yes!”
Me: “are there any crocodiles though?”
The man replied with a smile: “two”
Me: “there are two crocodiles in the lake?!”
Man: “Yes!”
Me: “there are two crocodiles in the lake but it is ok to swim?”
The man: “yes, yes!” with a non-fading smile from his face
Me: “How do you know there are two of them?”
The man: “They sometimes out. But no problem!”
Hmm, fair enough…
The next local on the way solemnly denied the presence of crocodiles: “no, no crocodiles!” which gave me a relief before he finished the sentence; “alligators!” To make sure nothing gets lost in translation and we are talking of the same creatures I asked “are there two of them?” “yes!” The man replied leaving me no doubt. “but where we bath — no”. “The alligators don’t come to the place where people bath in the lake”- I checked if I got this right. “Yes” confirmed the man. That’s nice of them…
The next person I came across was another tourist, thankfully speaking fluent English who had also heard of the two lake residents (that are seemingly no nuisance to anyone). She’d just had a swim nearby where some local women bath and wash their clothes. I soon found myself standing by the very spot with the built up urgency (it was really hot!) for a lake swim weighing the odds of this absurd situation and possibility of running into the two lake crocodiles (or maybe two alligators. I decided to make a compromise with myself not to really swim out in the lake but allowing myself a few-minute-dip but not any further out than the ladies.
During my second visit to the lake, I froze as I saw an enormous creature descending to the lake through the swamp water at the shore only a few meters away. As it happened, it was neither a crocodile, nor an alligator — just another giant reptile yet this one, on the contrary — as gentle as a lamb — some two meter long water monitor lizard. I wish I had a photo evidence of it happening but the mighty lizard honoured me with its presence only for a few seconds and disappeared into the lake waters.
From Sigiriya to Ambalangoda
To any self-respecting driver, the horn is the most important part of their vehicle. Its importance is undeniable and it is absolutely necessary that drivers use it to let the others know they are approaching when in the busy Sri Lankan traffic. They let the others know pretty much all the time and in the meantime the others also return the courtesy which results in so much noise! The bus drivers are absolutely crazy and often keen to get a shot of adrenaline getting from one place to another as a matter of highest urgency which often means taking over on the turns or despite cars approaching from the opposite direction. Adding to it, they also have a bit of an attitude driving on the opposite lane when taking over and beeping at approaching vehicles to get them out of the way. As I got off they would often fish for compliments saying things like: ‘excellent driving?’ with a proud smile waiting for a nod or a word of approval which I of course would give, simply being happy to have survived the journey!
The idea of personal zone is completely lost on Sri Lankans. The co-passengers would openly stare at my phone to check whatever I am up to, and when seeing the Facebook icon, would insist to become friends. This might seem a bit much to those of us who have been brought up in a spirit of not making an eye-contact with strangers, but people here live in very close-knit communities and by doing so, they just show interest in the foreigners and take an opportunity to practice their English — their intentions are harmless.
Sri Lankan people are conservative in their attire, yet as the country receives many tourists, they are accepting of the western (and revealing) fashion for the tropical weather. Yet in some places it is more frowned upon than the others, and such a place is Ambalangoda, located on the south-east cost of the island. This town became my base for the next two weeks that I spent on the island as an environmental conservation volunteer consecutively on two projects — in a turtle hatchery and looking after working elephants (to which I have devoted another post). For my two weeks in Ambalangoda, I also got a chance to pay daily visits to an orphanage. To read more about my time with these amazing animals go to my article — Working on environmental conservation projects in Sri Lanka.
As part of the orientation session I got a chance to visit a Buddhist temple lead by a monk who also told us a few things about their way of life. What I found particularly appealing was the fact the monks don’t think of Buddhism as a religion, but rather a philosophy, teaching about peace, karma and what I really loved, the value of life no matter how small it should be, like a life of an ant, or mosquito ( though perhaps they were slightly pushing it with latter one!)
From Ambalangoda to Unawatuna
In travels not everything goes according to the plan — yet to this day I’m still not sure what exactly went wrong when moving on to Unawatuna — a small town further south of the island with idyllic beaches, just over an hour train journey from Ambalangoda. We boarded a train on the platform as per information given in the ticket office, and the train departed on time. So you can only imagine our surprise when after an hour on the train, I realised we were heading north instead, and then my further disappointment mixed with frustration when the train wouldn’t stop for another 2 hours… until it reached Colombo!! Believe me, when you are in full readiness to finish your travel off with a few days lying flat on the beach, you are less than impressed when you end up in the noisy and hectic capital!!
By the time we got to Colombo, it was an early afternoon, and the idea of getting back on the train was the most off-putting. To cool down, we headed to the closest beach in Colombo, and had an average swim amongst floating plastic, with the thought of Unawatuna jungle beach making me want to cry!
Unawatuna is a nice little place — small enough to rest away from the city chaos and big enough for something to go on. It’s located just a few kilometers away from a bigger city of Galle, known for its fortress. Not overly touristy, it is a good place to relax on the beach. This is the place where I finished my one-month adventure in Sri Lanka. Despite the time I had, I left feeling like I haven’t managed to see and do half of the things in this breath-taking country — Sri Lanka is a place for many returns.
